Process and apparatus for extracting nicotine from tobacco material



Sept. 1,"1925.-

H. K. MccoNNELL PROCESS AND APPARATUS RoR EXTRAGTIING NICOTINE FROM ToBAcco MATERIAL,

Filed Feb. 17, 1923,

. Patented Sept. l, 192s.

- UNITED STATES l 1,551,616 PATENT oFFicE.

HENRY X. MCCONNELL, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO TOBACCO B'Y-PROD- UCTS AND CHEMICAL CORPORATION, 0F RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FO'R EXTRACTING NICOTINE FROM TOBACCO MATERIAL.

Application led February 17, 1923. Serial' No. 619,641.

To all whom t nw/y concern.'

Be it known that 1, HENRY K. MoCoN- NELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, county of Henrico, and State of Viroinia, have invented certain new and useful mproveinents in Processes and Apparatus for Extracting Nicotine from Tobacco Material, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in processes and apparatus for extracting nicotine from tobacco material, such, for example, as tobacco leaves, stems and refuse.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a process which is 'readily controlled or regulated to give an efficient extraction of the nicotine, while at the same time delivering the tobacco material iii a properly dried condition.

A further object of the invention is to -provide a simple and durable apparatus for carrying out the process.

, The invention willl first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and then more particularly pointed out.

i In the drawings- Fig. lis a diagrammatic sectional view, partly in elevation, of an apparatus embodyin one part of my invention;

ig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3, 1 il carryin to be treate is preferably finely divided or pulverized as in the case of tobacco dust, but other tobacco material may be divided into small pieces and then subjected to my process. Usually the material will be moistened by a suitable alkaline solution, as,

. for example, a caustic solution, and allowed to stand a sufficient'time before treatmentl to liberate the nicotine, the time required depending on the character of the material, or the material may be treated otherwise, as by fermentation, to liberate the nicotine. The tobacco material may be subjected to a mixing operation with milk of lime. In this case the milk of lime should be of such strength that the CaO it contains will be about 7 to 14 percent of the weight of the tobacco material treated with it,aocording out my process the materialv be used for the preparation of such materials as need it.

`The fresh material is caused to travel continuously through a plurality of zones, the

last of which is heated to serve as a dryin zone. Thev zones are of such length an the rate of travelofvthe material is such that by the time the material is discharged from the last zone, which'may be termed the drying zone, it will be Well dried. In the best practice, the material may be dried to a point where it contains only about four percent moisture.

Within the zones there is maintained a counter current of the vapors from the dry ing .zone to a condenser, so that the vapors given off in the drying zone are brou ht into contact with the fresh material in t e zone ahead of it. These vapors serve to heat the fresh material to a temperature approaching 212 F. The nicotine is volatilized and esca es with the other vapors to the condenser. he condensate is a nicotine solution which maybe treated to obtain a concentrated solution by any of the methods now in common practice.

It will be seen that'by the new process above described, the drying operation may be conducted in the best manner to accomplish the proper drying of the material, while, on the other hand, the material in the preceding zone, which may be called the extracting zone, may be caused to travel at such a ratethat substantially all its nicotine will be driven oli' by the time the material is dischar edto the drying zone.

For t e purpose of carrying out the process on a commercial scale, I ave devised a new apparatus in which the zones for treatment ofthe tobacco material are se arated a material distance from each other y providin two different chambers.

Re erring tothe drawings, A indicates a rotary drum, provided with buckets or ribs 1, Figs. 1 and 3, which serve to cary up and drop the tobacco material so that it will be showered through the atmosphere in the of travel of the tobacco material `through the drum. The front end of the drum A is` closed by a suitable stationary head, provided with means for feeding in the tobacco material, and also having means for withdrawing vapors from the interior of the aparatus. In the particular example illustrated, the front end of the rot-ary drum has an annular inward projecting flange, and

i compartments.

the head B has a cylindrical portion projecting into and snugly fitting the opening in the annular iange. The head B is divided by a vertical partition 10 into two The one at the left in Fig. 1 serves as a feed chute, down which material may be fed to a conveyer 11, driven by suitable means as, for example, through a sprocket wheel 12. This conveyor extends a short distance into the rotary drum, its inner end being carried in a bearing mounted on an extension of the head. The compartment at the left, Fig. 1, has a rotary gate device 10 near its top which serves not only to feed the material down into the compartment but also serves to reduce the excess of air to the interior of the drum. In practice, material is fed at such a rate as to maintain said left hand compartment about half full of tobacco material. This material serves as a plug or seal to hinder the entrance of air into the drum. vFor the purpose of removing the vapors from the interior of the rotary drum,y the head is provided with an inward extending conduit 13 connected to a suitable exhaust mechanism as, for example, the suction fan C, which discharges into a. condenser of any desired type, indicated in elevation at D. This condenser has a water inlet at 14 and a water outlet at l5. The condensate .may be drawn off at the pipe 16. The rotary drum just described constitutes a zone for the treatment of material which, in this case, may be called the extracting fzone. In practice the rotary drum is mounted above a drying apparatus which, in this instance, provides a chamber which may be termed the drying zone. This drying apparatus may be of any suitable construction employing external heating means. In the present instance, it is shown as a well known type of rotary steam heated dryer, and hence will require but a brief description. It comprises a shell E providedwith annular tracks 17, running on rollers 18, mounted in bearings 19 and20, respectively, which rest on suitable foundations. The bearing indicated at 19 may be adjusted vertically by the insertion of suitable shims, wedges or blocks so as to vary the slope of the drum and thereby regulate the rate of travel of the material through the drum, The dryer drum is closed at its front end by head F, which is hollow and serves as a steam distributing manifold to conduct the steam to two series of steam pipes indicated at-21 and 22, respectively. Outer stationary head G serves to enclose the manifold. and is provided at its lower end with a conveyor indicated at 23 which serves to transport the material coming from the dryer to a suitable point outside. At 24 is indicated the means for supplying steam to the center of the manifold and at 25 is shown the means for discharging water of condensation from the manifold. In Fig. 2 are shown the transverse ribs or arms 26 of the manifold with their partitions 27 which serve to conduct the water of condensation to the outlet for the same. As will be fully understood by those skilled in the art, the dryer drum is rotated by any suitable means, as, for example, the cog ring 28. The tobacco material passes from the discharge end of the rotary drumA to the dryer drum E, through a conduit H which discharges into a box I having a circular portion projecting into the dryer drum. This box is provided at its bottom with a suitable conveyor indicated at 29, which may be driven by any suitable means, as, for example, the sprocket wheel indicated at 30. The conduit is provided opposite the rotary drum A with an opening closed by a readily movable plate or door 31, which may b'e opened in order that samples may be' taken 'from the material at or near the discharge end of the rotary drum A.

The operation of the device is as follows: Thel tobacco material is supplied through the rotary gate 10 to the head B at such a rate as to maintain the desired amount in the front compartment. The screw conveyor 11 forces the material into the rotary drum which, when in operation, will lift the material and shower it down through the atmosphere in the drum. Because of the ineline of the rotary drum in a downward direction toward its discharge end. the material is gradually fed toward said discharge end and eventually falls through the conduit I-I into the box I. The conveyor 29 feeds the material to the rotary dryer, and the rotation of the latter causes thematerial to travel toward the discharge end of the dryer where it falls through the spaces in the manifold into the conveyor 23 and is remo-ved from the apparatus. steam supplied to the manifold and pipes 2l and 22 serves to heat the material to the desired temperature, this being so regulated as to drive 0E the moisture at such a tern- The y adjusted so that by the time the tobacco drum A, volatilize and sweep away the nicotine contained in the tobacco vmaterial which is being showered in the interior of the drum A. The withdrawn vapors containing the volatilized nicotine `are condensed in the condenser D and eventually How of or are drawn off at the pipe 16. The slope of the rotary drum A is suitably materials are ready to be discharged into the conduit H, all, or practically all, of the nicotine has been driven from the tobacco material. This condition may be observed by taking samples through the door 31 and testing such samples in the usual way. It will be seen that the interior of the rotary drum A serves as an extracting zone, and the process of extracting carried out in this zone may be properly regulated without interfering with the drying operation which is carried out in the interior of the rotary dryer E. On the other hand, the drying operation may be readily controlled by the proper adjustment of conditions within thedyer so as not to interfere with the extracting operation. Of course, there is a certain dependen-ce of the extractingoperationon the amount of vapor given oi in the drying operation, and this may be modified to a certain extent by the amount of moisture in the fresh material as it is fed to the apparatus. In case of necessity, additional moisture may be supplied to the material to assist in controlling the operation. In initially starting the apparatus, the fresh material is fed to the rotary drum A and some live steam maybe supplied to the drum, as, for exam le, throu h the steam pipe indicated at L, Irig. 1. T is live steam will serve to volatilize the nicotine in the initial charge of the apparatus. If, at any time, it be found that the tobacco material has not been completely or suiliciently deprived of its nicotine in its passage through the rotary drum A as determined by samples taken through thel door 31, the steam may be cut off from the steam pipes 21 and 22 in the dryer and the material not completely freed of its nicotine permitted to discharge through the conduit H, box I and rotary dryer E, so that eventually it is taken from the discharge end of the conveyor 23 and may be fed as a subsequent charge to the rotary drum A. This gives an opportunity to get the apparatus in proper operation condition without loss of material. After proper adjustment with any given grade of tobacco material, it will be `found that the operation may be carried out ina continuous. manner with a relatively limited 'amount of attention. While the apparatus Shown is particularly suitable for carrying out the new process, it will be understood that many other types of apparatus can be devised which will accomplish the same result.

What is claimed is:

I. In the process of extracting nicotine from tobacco material, traveling the material through a plurality of zones, the last of which constitutes a heated drying zone, leading the vapors from the material in the drying Zone into Contact with the material traveling toward the drying zone, whereby the nicotine is extracted from such material prior to its arrival at the drying zone, and then leading off and condensing said vapors containing the extracted nicotine.

2. In the process of extracting nicotine Yfrom tobacco material, traveling the material through a plurality of separate zones, the last of which constitutes a heated drying zone, leading the vapors from the material in the drying zone into contact with the material traveling toward the dr ing zone, whereby the nicotine is extracted rom such material, then leading oit and condensing said vapors containing the extracted nicotine, and controlling the rate of travel of the material to efficiently extract the nicotine from the material prior `to its arrival at the drying zone.

3. In the process of extracting nicotine from tobacco material, traveling the material through a plurality of zones, the lalst of which constitutes a drying zone, leading the vapors from the material in the drying zone into Contact with the material traveling toward the drying zone, whereby the nicotine is extracted from such material prior to its arrival at the drying zone, then leading off and condensing said vapors containing the extracted nicotine, and discharging the dried tobacco material from the drying zone.

4. In the process of-extraoting nicotine from tobacco material, traveling the material through an extracting zone, passin the material from this zone into a heate drying zone, passing the vapors evolved from the material in the drying zone through the extracting zone in a direction contrary to the travel of the material through said extracting zone, regulating the rate of travel of the material through the `extracting zone so that substantially all its nicotine 1s extracted by the time it passes therefrom, regulating the temperature of the drying zone and the rate of travel of the material therein, so that it will be properly- .tobacco material, which comprises acting upon the material in two separate chambers, in the first of which the fresh material has its nicotine volatilized by being subjected to heated vapors evolved from la preceding charge of material which is being dried in the second chamber, and in the said second chamber said material is heated to dry it and to evolve vapors which are led into contact with a succeeding charge of material in the first chamber, to extract the nicotine of said succeeding charge, said process also comprising leading off and condensing the nicotine-containing vapors from the first chamber, substantially as described.

G. An apparatus for extracting nicotine, comprising two compartments arranged to provide an extracting zone and a drying zone, respectively, means for feeding material to the extracting zonel compartment, means for passing material from the extracting zone compartment to the drying zone compartment, means for heating the latter compartment to dry the material; a

condenser, and means for causing a counter current flow of vapors from the drying zone compartment through lthe extracting zone compartment to the condenser.

i@ In an apparatus for extracting nicotine from tobacco material, the combination, with a rotary extractor drum, means for feeding fresh material to one end thereof, means for causing the material'to travel through said drum, and means forvwithdrawing vapors from said drum, of a dryer, means for discharging material therefrom, means for passing material from the rotary extracting drum to the dryer, and for passing vapors from the dryer to the rotary extracting drum.

)8. In an apparatus for extracting nico- -tine from tobacco material, the combination with two mclmed rotary drums, constituting an extracting drum and a dryer drum, respectively, separate means for adjusting the incline of each drum, means for putting the interiors of the drums in communication with each other whereby material in one drum may pass to the other drum, means for heating the `dryer drum, means for discharging material therefrom, means for supplying material to the extracting drum, a condenser,- and means for causing a flow of vapors from the dryer drum, through the extracting drum to the condenser.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HENRY K. MCCONNELL. 

